Breaking the Limit, True Energy Born Naturally (Please Bookmark and Vote)

"The Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art has thirteen levels in total. Quite a few full-fledged Demon Suppressors have cultivated this martial art to perfection.

"Compared to full-fledged Demon Suppressors, I still have quite a gap to close."

Although he had made a breakthrough, Shen Changqing did not dare grow arrogant or complacent.

The sixth level of the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art could only let him show off before trainee Demon Suppressors. He was in no way qualified to compare himself with full-fledged Demon Suppressors.

Steadying his mind,

he turned his gaze back to the flesh and blood within the cell.

After confirming that it could no longer provide him with Kill Value, Shen Changqing went to the next cell.

The next cell

also held the remains of a demon.

Yet unlike the arm and flesh from before, what was imprisoned in this cell was an eye.

A dark green eye.

The instant Shen Changqing saw it, he fell into an illusion.

A terrifying demon was lunging toward him to kill him. Boundless terror surged up from the depths of his heart, trying to drive his body into fleeing.

But just as he raised his foot, Shen Changqing suddenly came to his senses.

"I'm in the Demon Suppression Prison!"

"All demons and monsters in the Demon Suppression Prison are sealed away. How could a demon possibly be attacking me?"

"Besides, if a demon really were attacking me, with my current strength, I couldn't escape even if I tried. An illusion—this is all an illusion!"

Shen Changqing reassured himself inwardly and stood motionless, watching the demon charge at him.

Because it was so close,

he could even see every scale on the demon's body, as well as smell that thick, nauseating stench of blood.

The scene was far too real.

It made the fear in Shen Changqing's barely calmed heart surge fiercely once more.

But—

no matter how terrified he was, he never moved a single step.

At last,

the demon passed straight through his heart, yet there was no searing pain at all.

The next second,

the illusion vanished.

Cold sweat broke out across Shen Changqing's back. He no longer dared look directly at the demon eye in the cell, instead calming himself and checking his panel.

Sure enough,

the Kill Value on the panel, which had already dropped to zero, had become two points.

"Only two points?"

Shen Changqing frowned slightly.

The previous two times had both given him three points, but this time there were only two. Perhaps it was related to the demon's strength.

Still, two points were better than nothing.

The furrow in his brow immediately eased.

Not daring to look at the demon eye again, he headed straight for the next cell.

In less than an hour, Shen Changqing had made a full circuit of the third floor.

Unlike the second floor, the third floor imprisoned no monsters at all. Everything held there was a demon's severed remains.

Moreover, compared to the second floor, the third floor had fewer cells as well.

After he finished inspecting the final cell,

Shen Changqing checked his panel.

The two points of Kill Value had become fifteen.

The reason for this

was that some demon remains provided only one point of Kill Value, while others did not even add up to a full point. As a result, after touring the entire third floor, he had obtained only fifteen points.

Of course,

in Shen Changqing's eyes, fifteen points of Kill Value was still quite a substantial harvest.

If the requirements to upgrade the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had not changed, fifteen points of Kill Value would be enough to raise this martial art to perfection, with quite a bit left over.

Standing at the entrance to the fourth floor,

Shen Changqing recalled the danger of entering the third floor. He did not go in rashly, instead remaining where he was to digest his gains.

Consume one point of Kill Value!

Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art upgraded to the seventh level!

Consume one point of Kill Value!

Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art upgraded to the eighth level!

Consume—

Very quickly, the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art reached the twelfth level.

By this point,

Shen Changqing's physical defenses had reached a formidable level, while his raw strength and speed had also risen considerably.

Looking at the nine points of Kill Value that remained,

he did not hesitate for long before directly choosing to upgrade.

Boom—

The moment the thought fell, three points of Kill Value vanished in an instant. Immediately afterward, an incomparably powerful force rose from within his body and swiftly swept through his entire being.

His blood and qi boiled!

His bones thundered and cracked!

His flesh trembled!

At that moment, Shen Changqing felt that every inch of his body was undergoing a transformation that could be called a rebirth.

Unlike the agonizing pain of his previous upgrades,

this upgrade brought not the slightest pain. On the contrary, it was immensely comfortable.

Time passed.

Just as the commotion within his body gradually subsided, a warm, gentle breath was born in his dantian. As fine as a strand of hair, it quickly flowed through all four limbs and every bone.

In an instant,

the warm breath returned to his dantian, and there was no further movement.

It was over!?

Shen Changqing awakened from his breakthrough state.

At the first opportunity,

he opened his panel to inspect it.

Name: Shen Changqing

Faction: Great Qin Demon Suppression Bureau

Identity: Trainee Demon Suppressor

Martial Art: Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art (Level Thirteen, can be upgraded)

Kill Value: 6

"Hmm?"

Shen Changqing looked at the martial art entry on the panel, and his heart could not help but tremble.

The Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art only had thirteen levels at most. He had never heard of a fourteenth level existing.

Yet the words "can be upgraded" on the panel

clearly told him that the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art still had room to advance.

"Could it be—"

"Does the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art truly have further levels?"

Shen Changqing was filled with uncertainty.

But as he looked at the words "can be upgraded," he still chose to upgrade it.

At once,

three points of Kill Value were consumed, and the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art broke through from the thirteenth level to the fourteenth.

After the upgrade was complete,

three points of Kill Value remained, and the words "can be upgraded" still appeared after the martial art.

With the intention of increasing his strength as much as possible, Shen Changqing did not hesitate long before choosing to upgrade again.

His body shook.

His Kill Value instantly dropped to zero.

At this moment,

when he looked at the panel again, the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had reached the fifteenth level. The words "can be upgraded" had become "cannot be upgraded."

"Fifteen levels of the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art!"

Shen Changqing stood where he was, closing his eyes to feel the changes within himself.

According to the records in the manual, when the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art reached the thirteenth level, the physical body would attain a perfected state.

Perfection of the physical body!

True energy born naturally!

As a martial art that tempered the body and laid one's foundation, once it truly reached perfection, the physical body would produce a faint thread of true energy.

Once true energy was born,

it proved that a person had crossed the threshold of the Body Tempering Realm and reached the legendary Meridian Opening Realm.

He sensed that the warm, gentle breath in his dantian had grown from the thickness of a hair to roughly the thickness of his little finger after the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art reached the fifteenth level.

"This must be the true energy that is born only after the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art reaches perfection!"

Shen Changqing came back to himself, a smile appearing on his face.

True energy!

Monsters had ranks, and the warriors of the Demon Suppression Bureau likewise had their own ranks.

Among trainee Demon Suppressors, some had yet to cross into the Body Tempering Realm, while others lingered within it.

As for full-fledged Demon Suppressors,

their strength was basically at the Meridian Opening Realm or above.

In other words,

once true energy was born, his realm was already no weaker than that of a full-fledged Demon Suppressor.

Just one day earlier,

Shen Changqing had merely been someone who had not crossed the threshold of the Body Tempering Realm. Now, the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had reached perfection, and he had directly entered the Meridian Passage Realm, equal to a full-fledged Demon Suppressor.

Such a transformation—

to say he was not happy would have been a complete lie.

But he also understood

that entering the Meridian Passage Realm was only a new beginning. Compared to the experts within the Demon Suppression Bureau, the Meridian Passage Realm was nothing remarkable.

"Although the Meridian Passage Realm is only a beginning, I've already left all the Demon Suppressors of my batch far behind."

"To achieve this in just one day would definitely arouse suspicion. I can't reveal too much—"

Shen Changqing's smile faded.

Bringing the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art to perfection within a year was normal talent.

Doing so in half a year meant one was a genius.

Achieving it in two or three months meant one was a peerless genius.

If it took only one month, one would be a monstrous prodigy.

But if it took merely one day—

Shen Changqing shook his head. That could no longer be described as the feat of a monstrous prodigy.

Before he had grown strong enough to fear no one, he did not want to become the target of public criticism too quickly.

"But I don't need to hide it too thoroughly either. I can find an excuse, enter seclusion for about a month, then announce that I've brought the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art to perfection."

"Concealing my abilities too much would instead be detrimental to my development in the Demon Suppression Bureau!"

He could not be too earthshakingly brilliant, or it might invite a fatal disaster. But there was no need to hide too much either; as long as he could explain it, there would be no problem.

Shen Changqing believed

that if his talent were exposed, he would receive certain preferential treatment within the Demon Suppression Bureau.

After all, no monstrous prodigy would be treated exactly like everyone else.

As long as he did not act on his own initiative,

probably no one would be able to see that his Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had already reached perfection.

After realizing that he had cultivated true energy,

Shen Changqing was more or less certain that the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art truly had only thirteen levels. The reason he could upgrade it to the fifteenth was likely the advantage of Kill Value.

He looked at his emptied Kill Value, then at the entrance to the fourth floor.

In the end,

he still walked down.

He had harvested all the Kill Value on the third floor. If he wanted to obtain new Kill Value, he could only go to the fourth floor.

The moment he entered the fourth floor,

an incomparably terrifying chill came surging toward him.

In that instant.

Even Shen Changqing's formidable strength of qi and blood froze solid before the chill. Fortunately, true qi surged from his dantian, barely driving that icy force away.

"Hiss, what terrifying cold!"

Shen Changqing quietly sucked in a breath of cold air.

Long before he was about to enter the fourth level, he had already made some estimates about it.

But now, it seemed he had still underestimated it.

If the Thirteen Guardians Body-Hardening Art had not been raised to the fifteenth level, he would have died the instant he stepped into the fourth level.

Even though he could now rely on true qi to resist it and was temporarily unafraid of the cold.

Shen Changqing could feel it.

He would not be able to hold on for much longer.